I think I signed one once but it ended up costing me like $8 mil. I'd say as a general rule, don't draft those guys unless you're looking for a comp pick.

Also, definitely don't keep upping your offer, you'll be shooting yourself in the foot. You want to wait until they respond with a counter offer before you increase your offer. They will never accept an increased offer until they've sent over their counter offer, and if you keep going higher, their counter offer will keep getting higher too.

Is there a signing deadline in HBD? I haven't gone after big time guys who will not sign for slot much, just curious if they have a deadline and then afterword you can go for Internationals, or if they can hold out all the way to the World Series?

There is no signing deadline. However, if they are thinking about your offer, they tend to take 3-10 days in general to accept, reject or counter. I dont think I have ever had any wait longer than about 2 weeks. And if you do give them their counteroffer, they will accept immediately.

Posted by prezuiwf on 9/7/2011 11:59:00 AM (view original):I think I signed one once but it ended up costing me like $8 mil. I'd say as a general rule, don't draft those guys unless you're looking for a comp pick.

Also, definitely don't keep upping your offer, you'll be shooting yourself in the foot. You want to wait until they respond with a counter offer before you increase your offer. They will never accept an increased offer until they've sent over their counter offer, and if you keep going higher, their counter offer will keep getting higher too.

Not necessarily true. I've posted this several times, but every once in awhile this issue comes up. I had a guy do this same thing. Refused initial offer. Upped his demand to $11M. I only had $9M. I wanted the guy. I offered him my $9M over and over - probably 30 times through the end of the season. On the 31st time (approximately), his mother gave him permission to sign. For the $9M I had left. Yes, less than his revised demands.

It can happen. BTW, if that $9M would have netted me a comparable IFA, I would have done that instead, but by itself it wasn't going to do any good. That's why I had nothing to lose to offer him what I had left.

Usually the first thing I do when reviewing the draft prospects is to view according to background info, sort by signability and boot all the momma's boys to the back of the bus. But occasionally I draft one by mistake. Several seasons ago I drafted a 3rd rounder that was asking for $3-4M. I offered him what he wanted in the expectation that he'd turn it down and I'd get a comp pick. No such luck, tho. He took the initial offer. It happens.

Posted by mhulshult on 9/6/2012 8:57:00 AM (view original):CS has confirmed in the past that the agent has not effect on signability.

True, but for the purposes of this discussion the mother agent is really just a proxy for the kid's signability info which is always that he's got his heart set on going to/finishing college whenever his mother is his agent. And you never see that when he has a real agent.